INNOVATE2016: Gavin Newsom Calls For Systemic Change In American Politics

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Andrew Keen is the author of three books: Cult of the Amateur, Digital Vertigo and The Internet Is Not The Answer. He produces Futurecast, and is the host of Keen On.

Woody Allen famously said that 80% of success is showing up.

And that’s exactly what Marci Harris, CEO of the political informational portal PopVox says we all need to do next year at the 2016 election. “Register, show up and vote,” Harris advises us in order to make democracy work.

She’s right, of course. But beltway politics can be so boring and complicated that showing up is always easier in theory than in practice. Harris’ PopVox is one of a whole host of online start-ups designed to make politics more accessible and interesting to voters.

American democracy may, indeed, be broken and perhaps the real challenge for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs is to reinvent the system itself.

Whether or not we all show up in 2016, the Uber or Airbnb moment hasn’t yet arrived in politics. Disruption is everywhere in America except in the corridors of Washington DC. Let’s hope that next year’s election will trigger real innovation from entrepreneurs determined to change the very nature of politics itself.